Death be not Proud
by Lunar Kitty
Summary: Are you afraid of the dark? Of ghosts, of people who were left behind.....shadows of a former existence? A Halloween urban legend set amidst the characters of Inuyasha. RR!
1. Chapter One

Death Be Not Proud ==============  
  
A/N: Well I decided that I needed a creepy Halloween Story, if Beast isn't creepy enough when it wants to be! Anyways, this is a one or two chappy story, haven't quite decided yet, but it's worth the read. Enjoy! BTW you won't know what's going on until the very end.........Hee hee hee...........  
  
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Kagome stretched as she sat up in bed, joints in her arms popping as she rolled her muscles out. Her window was open, blowing the crisp autumn air and a few stray leaves into her room. Her homework lay strewn messily about her desk, a copy of Les Miserables sitting in an askew position on her floor.  
  
What a night! Inuyasha had been so sweet! He had taken her to a romantic restaurant, and they had gone dancing! It was just marvelous! Who'dve thought that she, Kagome Higurashi, would be the long term girlfriend of the school's most sought after bachelor........she sighed in contentment, a large smile lighting up her face as she sucked in a huge breath of the sharp and refreshing air. It felt soo good to.......wait a minute? She turned around to look at the Star Wars calendar behind her head. It was MONDAY?!  
  
"CRAPIT I'm gonna be LATE!" she screeched, making a dash for her bathroom. How could she have forgotten to set her alarm? I mean she got home at a reasonable hour last night.......wait.......she paused, her night shirt half off her head. When had she gotten home? For some strange reason, she couldn't remember anything after Inuyasha had escorted her off the dance floor, and to his cherry red convertible. Shaking her head, she decided it would have to wait. It was already eight thirty as it was! First period would be over in an hour!  
  
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Kagome tore into the school building, socks uneven and shoes untied, her jeans wrinkled and her only clean polo shirt on. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, her silver hoop earrings were different sizes, and her mascara had smeared onto her face. With a screech she slammed on brakes at her locker, her hands flying as she whirled the combination into its old and worn lock. It opened with a click, and her hands flew in to familiar territory to grab her science book. However, her hands encountered empty space. There was nothing there.  
  
Astounded, she opened her locker wider. Where there should have been pictures of she and Inuyasha at the fair, and she and her friends at birthday parties, there was a blank space. All her embellishments, all her little stickers and her mini-bulletin board, even her locker mirror was gone! Her books had seemingly melted into thin air, and not a trace of paper, or the scraps of the local newspaper that had featured Inuyasha and his prowess at kendo or martial arts were to be found. Even her prized picture of herself at the archery competition was gone. Was this some kind of sick joke? Who would take all her stuff?  
  
With a sigh of frustration, she almost screamed when she realized that she'd have to run if she wanted to make it to first period before it ended. Late and unprepared? Boy was she in for it! With a sigh of exasperation, she tore off down the hallway towards her Biology class, dreading the worst.  
  
When she finally reached the other side of the building, she opened the class room door silently, thanking the lord that the door to her classroom was inside the cloak room, which allowed her the good fortune to enter without disrupting the class. She tip-toed in, her scary mullet-headed teacher was graciously standing with her back to Kagome's entering form, which gave her time to scramble to her seat. Suprisingly, none of her fellow classmates turned to stare as they normally did, thankfully. She didn't think she could handle the malicious whispers that always came her way.  
  
Just as she made it to her seat, her teacher turned around, looking straight at her, shaking her head in a slightly dissaproving way, "tsk, tsking" as she stared at Kagome evilly. With a gulp, Kagome hastily dropped her purse on the ground and bowed, a hurried apology rushing out of her lips "Gomen nasai sensei! I woke late this morning, and for some reason I can't find any of my school things, my locker has been mysteriously emptied." Her voice took on a sarcastic tone as she turned to look towards Inuyasha's seat, expecting him to be smirking at her devilishly, having taken her things out of her locker just to catch her alone after class.  
  
He wasn't there.  
  
Just as soon as she voiced her apologies, her teacher turned around and began teaching again, and much to the happiness of Kagome, never mentioned a word to her about her tardiness or her lack of preparedness for school. What a relief! That could have ruined her already terrible Monday. With a growl of frustration she turned to her best friend Eri to ask her for a piece of paper.  
  
"Eri, Eri-chan!" she whispered, trying not to dig a hole too deep to bury herself in. Her friend, however, didn't even look her way. She called out to her again, "Eriiiii! I need to borrow a piece of paper, and a pencil if you happen to have one." she murmured. Eri never once looked her way.  
  
"What is this?! Ignore-your-best-friend day?" she hissed, face beginning to flush with anger. She took a small piece of paper, probably a previously shot paper football and chucked it in her friend's direction. It struck home, bouncing off of Eri's jean jacket clad shoulder. With a start, Eri jumped, turning quickly in Kagome's direction. To Kagome's surprise, Eri's eyes were filled with tears, and her face had rivulets of water running down it. Why was Eri crying?  
  
To her shock Eri murmered her name in a choked voice, almost a slight wail, "Ka....Kagome....."  
  
Kagome was freaked out to say the least. Had Hojo broken up with her? What was wrong? She reached over to pat Eri on the arm, but in her distress she never turned towards her comforter, just shivered as if she was cold. "Eri? Eri? Why are you crying? Is it because of Hojo?"  
  
Most likely, that was the cause. Hojo was so dense, he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. With a disgruntled sigh, she tried to comfort Eri, but it only seemed to be making her sob all the louder. With a vicious snarl, the mulleted teacher turned around, black demon eyes blazing in the night as she snapped a violent "Ms. Eri Takawara COMPOSE your self IMMEDIATELY!" The rest of the silently studying class jumped, turning to stare at Eri, trying to figure out what the perfect student had done wrong.  
  
Eri hicupped, and nodded briefly, shying away from Kagome's touch and retreating back into the corner of her chair. Burying her self deep in the large paperback book she had brought with her to school today. Kagome leaned over to read the title "Reincarnation". That was strange. Eri never read anything like that. Why would she now?  
  
Puzzled Kagome turned around to listen to the lecture, barely paying attention to the evil hair-do no-no at the front of the room, her lecture on osmosis drifting in one of her ears and out the other. Even though she had arrived at school with only fifteen minutes left in her science class, it still seemed to drag on forever. She watched the clock, her eyes following every second as she almost screamed for the minute hand to click forward one last time.  
  
"Success!" she squealed less than thirty seconds later as the bell rang, it's sharp tone startling the other students about her from their torture- induced stupors. She tore out of the classroom like the devil was on her heels, heading for Inuyasha's locker to see if he had skipped first period, which he was prone to do often.  
  
She had a fifteen minute break between Biology and AP Calculus, so she decided that spending her time looking for Inuyasha might not be a bad idea. She just couldn't wait to see him! She KNEW he had to be the one behind her missing books, who else knew her combination? Except for the janitors of course, but why would they take her books out of her locker?  
  
Shrugging her shoulders she took off towards the shop hall, where Inu's locker was. Crossing multiple dangerous lanes of people-traffic, she ended up where she needed to be in a matter of three minutes. She turned the corner, expecting to see Inuyasha and his older brother Sesshoumaru lounging against the wall with cool expressions on their faces, happily enjoying their extra hour of free time surrounded by their friends.  
  
However, the hallway was empty. A few of the seniors that hung out with Sesshoumaru, like Kagura and Bankotsu were sitting on the floor making a card. She walked up behind them to see them cutting out pictures of Inuyasha and pasting them on a large, well decorated purple piece of poster- board. On the front was "We Love You Sesshoumaru! Come back to school soon!" Many signatures from kids of all grades were messily slopped on the card, along with almost illegible messages of some foreign nature. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Kagome walked away from the idiots, deciding to head towards the kendo practice courts, in hopes that she might see her beloved Inuyasha before she headed off towards the second most evil class in school, AP Calculus......Twitching in trepidation she thought about all the work she was still having to make up from when she was out sick with that cold two weeks before. Inuyasha had been so sweet.  
  
He had taken the day off of school and come over to her house to cuddle with her on the couch, fixing her chicken noodle soup and pampering her all day. He massaged her back, and even watched 'A Walk to Remember' with her. It had been one of those good days, the kinds that you didn't want to end. He got her medicine, and even took her to the doctor later that afternoon. He was just too good to her. She was so lucky to have him. She blushed as she remembered his sweet little kisses he just loved to peck on her when she wasn't expecting it, or the roses he used to hide in her locker before they were going out. Giggling and blushing furiously, she took off down the halls once more, crossing her fingers that he'd be out there on the courts, all good looking without his shirt on as he practiced his routines for the Inter-High School Kendo Championships that were coming up later this fall.  
  
Checking her watch, she realized that she'd have to hustle, Calculus was starting in seven minutes! Turning on the gas, she darted out the nearest school exit so she could make a dash to the kendo courts without being stopped by any fussy administrators. Tearing around the Garden Club's building, she rushed towards the sound of practice swords clacking together viciously. She KNEW he was out here!  
  
She tore around the corner, chest heaving as she tried to let her breathing catch up with her heart beat. It seemed like she couldn't suck in enough oxygen. She looked up excitedly, eyes ready to gaze upon her lovely Inuyasha. To her surprise however, Inuyasha wasn't one of the people sparring. His battered wooden sword he had dubbed "Tetsusaiga" still hung on its hooks in the back of the dojo. "That's strange...." she whispered, "Wouldn't he have called me if he was sick?"  
  
Shaking her head, she checked her watch again. Only two minutes till Calculus, and her classroom was on the other side of the school! With a screech of fear, she flew off in the general direction of her Calculus class, praying to God that she'd make it on time. She already had one tardy today! Getting another one would most likely result in a call home to her mother! Giving a slight 'eep' of terror, she careened up the nearest stair case and put on the gas at the top, skidding into her room just as the bell rang.  
  
Luckily, her teacher wasn't in the room to see her haphazard entrance, he was talking to another teacher out in the hall, both were dressed extremely nice, and were shaking their heads in a solemn manner. Kagome shivered as an eerie feeling washed over her. Something about school today was just off. Maybe it was the fact that she had eaten one of those nasty Honey Nut Cheerio breakfast bars before school. They weren't very appetizing, and the certainly did NOT taste like cheerios. With a sigh of boredom, she settled herself in her seat, pulling out her hooded sweatshirt from her mammoth bag she called a "purse", which she used to carry her books in, so she could get away with school restrictions against book bags.  
  
She almost moaned aloud when her teacher walked through the door. She just couldn't put up with Calculus today........with a sigh she slumped her head on her desk, dropping into a deep and dark world of slumber.  
  
She dreamed of she and Inuyasha's date the night before.  
  
He had showed up before seven in his red Mustang, looking sexy as ever in a pair of dress pants and a dress shirt. His long black hair had been pulled into a loose pony tail, and his amber eyes had shown fiercely in the dusky light of the setting sun. Her floor length renaissance styled dress in its deep burgundy color had set off her blue eyes spectacularly, her dainty little feet clad in high lace up stiletto sandals. Inuyasha had beamed, running up the stairs that led to her shrine and lifting her up in his arms, twirling her around as she had laughed uproariously. He had kissed her passionately on the lips, and picked her up bridal style and carried her down the stairs while she screamed at him to put her down.  
  
It was just like Inuyasha to do that.  
  
He had opened the door for her, and had gently placed her in her seat while she blushed prettily, his hands trailing up her arms to encircle her face, his face sliding closer to hers as he whispered "You look beautiful tonight........" in her ear, his lips gently touching her neck and trailing up her cheeks. His lips had touched her chin, and he had allowed them to slide upwards as he nibbled on her lower lip gently. She slipped her face downwards, unable to take the sweet torture anymore, and kissed him. The taste of his lips, his mouth...She had closed her eyes in ecstasy and she had just brought her hands up to rest in his thick black hair when a cry of, "Get a room!" from her little brother and his friend came from atop the walls of the shrine. She recalled her mad grab for her purse as she had flung it high, and the wonderful satisfaction of watching her brother fall backwards in bliss. It had been a perfect shot.......too bad it had ruined her new make up case.  
  
Inuyasha had laughed his butt off as he drove down the highway, "I wish I had had a camera Kagome......." he had chortled. "What a picture that would have made! What would the girls in archery think?" Even Kagome had to laugh at that, the bell-like sound erupting from her lips like a sweet melody.  
  
Inuyasha hadn't told her where they were going, so when he had pulled up outside of the fanciest restaurant in town, 'The Skyway'. Kagome had almost screamed with joy. He had already ordered for them, and they had eaten on the open rooftop of a sky rise in Tokyo, the cool air and great music bringing many dancers out on the large stain glass floor that looked down on the massive indoor greenhouse below. The lobster Inuyasha had ordered was delicious. Perfectly prepared, and desert.......wow. She had never eaten chocolate that good before.......It had melted in her mouth in a swirl of magnificent flavor. The two of them had topped it off with a small glass of wine, and then......they had danced.  
  
The charisma with which they moved, of two people who were so in tune that they were one......awed the other dancers. The center of the floor magically opened as other couples stopped to stare at the two young lovers who swirled so gracefully beneath the full autumn moon, which rose in a brilliant orange hue. It had been.......perfect. Her arms around him, his around her.......the two of them, perfectly in sync in that one moment for the rest of time. His sweet whisper of "Kagome......I love you." barely reaching her ears as she rested her head on his shoulder. He was everything to her, everything. The very reason she got up and went to school in the morning. He was her future. She tightened her hold on him, as smile lighting up her face as she held him tight. This night.....was perfect.  
  
The dream continued as it had started, quickly, and all in a rush, as if her mind was trying to catch up with something. It seemed like the world she had leisurely enjoyed with her sweetheart the night before was warping into a black nightmare. The car.......what was wrong with the car? They had left the restaurant.........and were going home the back way.......where there.......something was happening........The car......the car had stalled........  
  
Someone was screaming her name, and a roaring sound filled her ears as she struggled to pull herself free from the car. Why was she struggling? What was the sound? She turned to see Inuyasha right beside her, a small scratch on his face as he pulled her into a hard embrace, "I won't leave you Kagome, I won't!" he yelled, tears staining his face.  
  
What was going on? What was...........BLLLLAAANNNNGGGG! Kagome jumped upright with a start, what in the world was that? What was that dream? Was it a premonition of the future? She shook her head as she realized that the noise she had heard in her dream must have been that infernal bell signaling her release from the heck-hole they called Calculus. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of the strange dream, she picked up her things, the uneasy feeling she had felt earlier intensifying.  
  
What was up today? Why did she feel so off? And why was that dream bothering her so much?  
  
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A/N: Heya folks, Lunar Kitty again! Can you believe I came out with another fic already? I was just talking about the idea for this fic with my beta Lizbet and she said it'd make an awesome story, and I decided I'd write it. Sorry Inuyasha's not really a focal point in the story yet, he'll come in more later, I promise. I wish I could get some more reviews for Life after Death (cough::hint::cough) What is it with me and my obsession with death titles? Death be not Proud, Life after Death? Am I obsessed? No, not really, but you'd think I was with the way I kill people and make people suffer in Beast.....and yes there is another chapter of that coming out soon. Bec was very angry when she read that I killed a certain person who is a main character in the series quite brutally. (I don't wanna say his name cuz I don't want to spoil it for anybody who hasn't read it) This story isn't going to be very long, only a few chapters. It'll be the first fanfiction I've ever written and finished. It should be done before Halloween, because I think three or four chapters are gonna do it for this one. It's pretty short, and I've already got my ending figured and planned out w/ my betas, who are growing rapidly in number.....I've gotten my friend Melissa into reading this story too. She's kinda like an un-official beta reader. I think I'm gonna get my mom to read it too, to see what she thinks! I probably won't post this today (the fourteenth) because it's too late, and too many people will update after me, and then when my story finally shows up tomorrow, hah! It'll be on the second page and no one will read it..........there's a prime time for story posting ya know! Just so you'll know the evil biology teacher (I'm gonna KILL MY SISTER! She just called me SHORTY! Urgh! She's MY LITTLE SISTER, and she's TALLER THAN I AM, and STILL in MIDDLE SCHOOL! It's sooooo not fair.......) is based on MY real Biology teacher, who's evil incarnate I tell ya. 


	2. Chapter Two

Death Be Not Proud Chapter Two By: Lunar Kitty  
  
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A/N: Alright, it's official, I have a problem sleeping. It's four FREAKING THIRTY in the morning, and I've been trying to go to sleep for three FREAKING hours! That whole 'interesting fact' that the average person falls asleep in seven minutes is a crock of bull. Seriously........Anyways, here's the next chapter of DbnP. Hopefully the reviewing will pick up as it goes along. This seriously is NOT a long story, so if you're looking for something short and good, here it is.  
  
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Kagome groaned as she walked up the steps to her shrine. She was so hungry! Her eyes were practically glazing over as she walked up the steps. School had been.......strange today. There was no homework given, in any class except Biology, but with Satan as a teacher, it wouldn't matter if the world was coming to an end and you weren't going to be able to turn in the homework the next day.......you'd have to spend your final hours before the apocalypse sweating your brains out over a freaking drosophilus experiment or something.......It almost made her want to develop a twitch. Of course, she wasn't totally sure about the homework thing in Calculus, since she had slept through the entire class.  
  
She pulled out her key as she reached her door, the long climb to the shrine barely fazing her. She'd only walked the same path after school for thirteen odd years. The door slid back as her cry of "Mom, Souta, Ji-chan! I'm hoooommmee!" echoed throughout the ancient building. Normally her brother would come pounding down the stairs to greet her, a big baggy t- shirt and pajama pants already on despite the fact that it was four in the afternoon. He would be begging her to come play SSX Tricky with him, or some other game on the PS2, or bribing her for answers to his homework. Her mom didn't seem to be home either, and despite her thorough search of the kitchen, she found no note explaining her family's whereabouts. With a sigh of annoyance, she began her truck up the fourteen stairs that led to her room, her large book bag making her back ache.  
  
When she reached the top, she dropped her book bag with a thud onto her floor, wincing as she felt the house shake, and heard something break in the dining room downstairs. "Whoops......" she said sheepishly, running a hand through her hair. She crossed her fingers and prayed that it wasn't one of Ji's antiques.......she'd never hear the end of it if one of his mummies had disintegrated because of her ample school work. Rubbing her temples with her hands to try and ward off an oncoming head ache, she turned her attention towards her bathroom, in which waited a sauna tub. Grabbing a towel from the linen closet in the hall, she trotted her way towards the sauna singing her favorite song, "Every Heart". She opened the door to the bathroom, surprised to find it cleaner than a whistle, none of her many clothes were scattered about the floor, and her make-up was gone. "That's strange..." she murmured tired eyes surveying the spotless floors. "It looks like a teenage girl doesn't even live here anymore....." she giggled. Her mom had really done a good job cleaning up. She'd have to write her a thank you note or something.  
  
She walked into the room, carelessly dropping her school uniform on the floor as she reached over to turn hot water on. As she wrapped her robe about her body, she almost mooshed into a pile of jelly when the first few wisps of steam began their sensuous way up from the hot water, making her skin thirst for hydration. With a smile of unbridled happiness she turned around to get her favorite bubble bath from the top drawer of her cabinets.  
  
She quickly leafed through the drawer; her hands flying through the large collection of bathtub squirt toys that belonged to her little brother. Her hands gently closed over her Cucumber Melon Melody, a new fragrance from her favorite bath products store. As she lifted it out in her excitement, she painfully slammed her elbow into the edge of the drawer. Hissing in pain, she lifted her arm out gently and tried to turn it so she could see the bruise that was bound to have formed in the short time it had taken her to extricate her arm from its precarious position. However, it was one of those places that you just can't see with your own eyes, you know, those bruises on the back side of your arm that never quite come into full view?  
  
Sighing in utmost aggravation she turned to her large ornate mirror that hung over her green marble counter tops to try and get a better view, and what she saw.........what she saw.......was nothing. Where she should have been standing, there was a clear reflection of the bathtub filling behind her. In shock, she waved her injured arm, still holding the bubble bath, around wildly, and was stunned to see the bubble bath whirling around the room........but her arm.......it wasn't there.  
  
Terrified, she dropped the bubble bath and stumbled out of the room, knocking her mother's antique lamp from its perch in the hallway, its crash onto the rug covered hardwood floors echoing sharply throughout the house. Her haphazard panting breath sounded like the bellows of a wounded animal as her vocal chords tried to make any kind of noise. She headed towards the only place she could think to go, her mother's room, almost falling down the stairs as she tried to reach her sanctuary, her happy place to retreat to when something went wrong.  
  
The room she had cried in when her father died in that plane crash, the room she had gone running to when she fell and hurt herself when she was younger. The place that personified the very essence of security in her life, the four sided structure that had become her mother in every shape form and fashion. It was the first room in the house her mother would enter when she came home, and at the moment, Kagome needed her mother more than anything else.  
  
She slammed through the doors into its serene darkness, the beautiful china blue wallpaper based on an Ancient Chinese print her mother had had replicated from the museum she was curator of giving it an ethereal quality. The beautiful silk bed sheets that echoed taste and dignity, and the gorgeous deep royal navy down comforter, its soft contours ready to absorb all the tears of fear that Kagome had pent up inside of her at the moment. She walked slowly across the room and collapsed onto the bed, her long black hair spilling about her pale, ivory white skin in a fountain of ebony. Her arms wrapped around a long squishy pillow, dragging it towards her body, and smashing it against her small frame so she could have something to comfort her in her time of need.  
  
She inhaled her mother's sweet perfume, something by Este Lauder she presumed, due to her mother's abnormal fondness of the company. She snuggled deep into the covers desperately trying to block out the vision of the bottle of bubble bath floating in mid air. Where had she been? Was it some trick of her brother's, to make her freak out? He did things like that sometimes. It must've been Souta, or Ji-Chan, he could have brought another one of those "cursed" objects home again. She would never forget the time he brought home a "cursed" bag of marbles.....he had refused to allow she and Souta to play with them, telling them that the shooters would swallow their souls. However, she and her brother had blatantly ignored him, and had been covered in sutras with scribbled black lines on them as soon as he had discovered them in the act, his meaningless chants to bring their souls back from Hades doing no more than giving them swirly eyes and head aches.....  
  
She smiled at the memory. The mirror just had to be one of Ji-chan's crazy stunts. The old coot was always babbling about some legend or another from a thousand years ago. She almost laughed out loud as she remembered the "legend of the pickles" story. Oh my......that one had been a gut buster.......tears of mirth streamed down her cheeks as she remembered Souta's mini-shrine to the dill pickles he had created underneath his bed in fear of enraging the "Pickle God".....if mom had known what was making that "awful" smell in Souta's room, she would have thrown a fit!  
  
Her laughter at her memories was quickly interrupted by the slamming of the front door, most likely courtesy of her little brother Souta. She heard the sound of shoes being taken off, and the dropping of a house key on the kitchen counter. Her suspicions on the identity of the unknown human in the kitchen were quickly confirmed as she heard a large book bag drop on the floor, and two house shoe clad feet thunder up the hard wood stairs. She heard him open and shut the door to his room, along with his small voice saying "Why's the water running?"  
  
His footsteps walked across the hallway into the bathroom and his elementary school kid voice gasped. Her eyes opened warily. What had she done? Had she left her underwear on the floor or something? Nope, she was wearing those.....a tampon perhaps? That was always a possibility........she sweat dropped uneasily.....what was wrong? Her little brother's disembodied voice came softly from upstairs, hardly hearable as he spoke, "All her stuff is supposed to be put away now.....what's it doing out?"  
  
Her confusion was plain on her face as she listened intently. What was Souta talking about? Why would her stuff be put away? Had she done something wrong? What was up with everyone today? Anybody she talked to had seemingly shunned her. Her books were gone, her makeup was gone off her own counter. Her bathroom was clean.....something strange was going on, and Kagome didn't like it one bit.  
  
She was debating confronting Souta when she heard the back door open, her Ji-chan's shuffly footsteps creeping along through the living room, his rheumatic back creaking with every step he took. She listened hard as Souta trotted down the steps, a half hearted "Konbanwa" echoing down the stair well.  
  
"Ji-chan" Souta called. "Did you leave the water running in the tub earlier today?"  
  
"No." his wrinkledy voice crackled "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well I came home from school, and the bath water was running upstairs, and some of....Kag's clothes were on the floor."  
  
"Like she never ran away from us......." her grandfather grumped.  
  
"I wish.......I wish she'd never gone out on that date with Inu-niichan!" Souta said, his voice barely audible to her ears, despite the fact that she was only a few feet away from them in her mother's room.  
  
"I know Souta....I think we all wish she hadn't left......"  
  
"It's been over a week......Ji-chan.......I can't stand it......" her brother began to sob uncontrollably, "What I am going to do....I know she's never going to come home again.....and I.....I can't stand it Ji-chan!" his boyish voice, unaccustomed to crying, cracked painfully, making Kagome wince. What had she done? She was right here! Didn't they see her shoes at the doorway, her purse on the counter?  
  
"When is your mother getting home Souta?" Ji-chan questioned.  
  
"I don't know Ji-chan.....she said something about stopping by........" his voice dropped too low for Kagome to hear, her eyes wide in shock. Had she run away and not noticed it or something? Or were they talking about someone else? Her confusion mounted as she blocked their voices out. What was she missing? What essential piece of information was she lacking? What would make her mystery complete?  
  
Their conversation suddenly came back into focus as she heard her Ji-chan say "How about I take you to McDonald's Souta? Would that make you feel better?"  
  
"Hai, Ji-chan, I think a good old McFlurry would cheer me up a little."  
  
"Okay then, we can get your mother a salad and put it in the fridge for her when she gets home."  
  
"It looks like it's going to rain Ji-chan, should we take the car?" Their voices died away as a loud clap of thunder shook the house. It had been dreary on her way home, and the weather man had said something about a chance of rain today, but thunder storms?  
  
Kagome shook her head wearily.......it was all too much, just too much. She lay her head back down on the pillow, sighing. Why was it that everything unexplainable always happened to her? She vaguely registered hearing the car start as she moped about on her mother's bed. Maybe she should watch some TV or something........  
  
Just as she was reaching for the clicker she heard the front door open again, and a different set of foot steps began their melodious way into the house. It was her mother....she could tell, from here. The way she walked, the way her heels clicked as she took her shoes off to exchange them for the house slippers she normally wore. The swooshing of her raincoat as she hung it on a peg over the mat to dry.....  
  
Kagome smiled, her mother would know just what to think about the "mysterious" mirror. Souta would get it now! It was another one of his childish practical jokes, it....it had to be. Why else would she not have a reflection?  
  
Her mother entered the room slowly, holding a wet newspaper in her hand, the headline slightly smudged. She seemed not to notice Kagome at all as she put the paper down, hands reaching up to pull down her soaked hair from its messy bun. "Oh Kagome" she said quietly.  
  
"What is it mom?" Kagome replied, hair falling into her face as she sat up on the bed to face her mother, who looked straight ahead of herself into the mirror.  
  
"I went to see you today." She said, her voice almost too quiet to hear in the darkness of the room. Kagome could hardly make out her face as she took her earrings off, her hands gently removing all jewelry off her person.  
  
"Really?" Kagome replied, "I didn't see you around school."  
  
"The flowers are absolutely gorgeous, this year. I guess that's why there are so many there........"  
  
"At my school? Yeah, the flowers are beautiful this year. Just think about the Cherry Blossoms we'll see next year!" her fear was being cast away as she listened to her mom's soft voice.  
  
"Remember that tree you used to love in the cemetery, when we went to visit Grammy's grave?"  
  
"Yes.......Goshinbuku isn't it? The thousand year old God tree?"  
  
"It's leaves are falling, and they mixed in with the flowers today. I wish you could have been there to see it. I missed you so much today."  
  
"Did you see Grammy while you were there momma?"  
  
"The article in the paper today is about you."  
  
"Really momma? What kind of story is it? Does it have anything to do with the band competition?"  
  
"It tells everything.......I wish........I wish I had grounded you last week when you broke that plate.........but Inuyasha had already made his reservations for Sullivan's.........I wish I could have stopped you Kagome............"  
  
"Why momma? I heard Souta and Ji-chan talking about this earlier. I thought you all liked Inuyasha!"  
  
"I liked him so much........until he took you away from me."  
  
"Momma, I don't understand, what are you talking about?"  
  
"I love you Kagome, forever and ever. You......you'll always be my little girl, okay? Even if I can't see you all the time like I used to..."  
  
"I know that momma, I love you too."  
  
Her mother smiled demurely.......but sadness still echoed in her brown eyes. She turned towards her bathroom door, grabbing her bathrobe off its hook as she made her way in. Kagome lay back down on the bed as her mother started the shower......the soothing sound of water trickling down the shower curtain gradually lulling her into a stupor....  
  
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a loud crash of lightning and the roar of thunder shook the house violently. She sat up quickly, her mother shrieking in surprise. The pictures rattled on the wall, and she swore she heard something fall in another part of the house. Quivering, she stood up and went to try the lights. She walked to the switch over by the window, shivering because she was chilly.  
  
Reaching for the switch, she flipped it up. No lights came on. She flipped it once more to be sure. Yup, the power was out.  
  
Sighing in aggravation, she turned around to retreat back to her mother's bed and her solace, but tripped over something on the floor. She looked down, squinting in the pale light and saw the newspaper her mother had brought in earlier. So this must have been the something she heard drop a few seconds earlier. Rolling her eyes, she reached down to pick it up, walking over to the windows to use what light she had to read the story her mother had told her she was featured in. Closing her eyes momentarily, she leaned her head against the cold window pane. When she opened them, she turned the newspaper over, the headline was hard to make out in the waning light. With a mumbled curse she leaned closer, her eyes hardly perceiving any writing on the paper.  
  
Just as she leaned closer, a huge streak of lightning crashed down, illuminating the illusive headline.  
  
Kagome read the words slowly, hardly comprehending what the large black font was telling her eyes, her mind barely processing the information now flooding through her system. In shock, she heard herself whispering the headline out loud, her ears screaming for her to stop.  
  
"Two Teenage Lovers Die in Tragic Train/Car Collision"  
  
A tear dripped out of her eye as she looked down at her own face, her own prom picture, Inuyasha holding her hand as they stood in front of one of his dad's limos.  
  
"I'm.........dead?"  
  
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A/N: What a horrible place to stop, ne? I'm glad I finally finished this chapter, I had already finished the third and final one before I even finished this one! AAAAAAHHHH!! Chemistry is driving me nuts! NOT! Chemistry is fun, even if it is a little brain boggling at times.....I'm already ready to get my test back from Ms. _____ that I took today. It was pretty easy *knocks on wood* I hope I did okay. A ninety-five would be nice.......*Lizbet aka Meggums, Bec, and LK's sister all nod enthusiastically* I need to make a high A in that class ya know? *Liz, Bec, and Keru all put on Miaka "pass your exams" head bands* LOL! Anyways! Read and review please! I'm so excited I'm getting ready to finish my very first story! And YES Beast is coming Beast is coming! I'll have a new chappy out as soon as possible, and as soon as my muse kicks herself in the rear and wakes up.........Okay! Gotta go, Keru hasn't been fed, and mom's shopping, so it's time for me to cook......*cough::not::cough* supper! R/R pretty please! - Lunar Kitty 


	3. Chapter Three

Death Be Not Proud Chapter 3 By: Lunar Kitty  
  
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A/N: WOW! My first officially finished story! I was hoping for more reviews, but kudos and thanks to all who did review! This chapter is slightly altered from the version that my beta Liz read, and my sister. It's got some stuff added. After this is posted, I've got to get to work on the next chapter of Beast! I've got two pages written so far, and the plot is thickening! I'm not even quite sure of everything I've got going on, I think I'm gonna have to diagram my own story......Oh yes and random comment of the day........lerseee......Did you know that roughly 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year? LOL! Just had to post that, isn't it interesting? Hee hee! Anyways on with the chappy!  
  
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Kagome was frozen.  
  
It couldn't be true. How could it even be fathomable? She was......dead......she almost choked on bile rising in her throat as she read the headline again....There was no mistaking it. It was her, her name in the first line, Kagome Higurashi.  
  
She stared blankly at the picture of the railroad, still cluttered with the debris of Inuyasha's car......and left the room.  
  
How could this be? She walked upstairs, eyes falling on her bed through the open doorway of her room....she walked in and sat down, barely taking notice of the layer of dust littered atop everything. She blindly reached for a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, tossing them on carelessly.  
  
It just couldn't be true.  
  
She walked downstairs and opened the door, barely registering the pouring rain thundering down in torrents as lightning cracked ominously in the distance. She stepped out, not even bothering with her shoes as the rain soaked her to the bone, tears of shock washed away by the storm's furious precipitants.  
  
She turned almost automatically towards the entrance to the shrine, steps quickening as she ran towards the steps.  
  
It couldn't be true.  
  
Her mind flashed back to less than a week before when she had walked down the same steps to Inuyasha, the sun setting and sending shockwaves of splendid color streaking across the sky. They had driven off in his car....  
  
She was shocked out of her reverie as she slipped, tumbling down the last five steps and landing in a heap on the wet pavement at the bottom, a broken sob stumbling its way from her vocal chords to the air around her as she felt rain trickling down her back. She pushed herself up on scraped hands and knees, mentally willing herself to go on.  
  
It couldn't be true.  
  
She turned down the street, running towards the tall tree that stood prominent in the towns nearest cemetery. Her mother had mentioned the Goshinboku....could her answers be found there? Despite her seven block distance, she could still see the orange-gold leaves of the wind-kissed tree holding proudly to their gray branches. She had to get there. She had to know the truth.  
  
Her mind slipped into a lulled sense of consciousness as she ran past the skyscraper that held the fancy restaurant Inuyasha had taken her dancing in. It had been absolutely wonderful, absolutely. She had had the greatest tasting steak she had ever eaten, and they had brought her Heinz 57 in a gravy boat! She had laughed so hard when the porcelain surrounded steak sauce had been dribbled on her plate by the maitre d, enjoying Inuyasha's jealous looks as she talked to him concerning the menu. The desert had been a delectable piece of chocolate cake covered in sweet and gooey caramel. Her fork had barely sunk into the cake when she heard a slight clink of metal against metal.  
  
Confused, she had cut the cake into two pieces, only to see a beautiful diamond ring glittering back at her. She had gasped, her face flaming a violent red as she had reached with shaky hands to remove the white gold encrusted diamond from its chocolate prison. Inuyasha had dropped on one knee, his husky and sensuous voice sending shivers over her spine as he spoke.  
  
"Look Kagome, I know we're still in high school, and we're not even seniors yet, but I love you from the bottom of my heart, and I can not even fathom living with out you, ever. I love the way you walk, the way you move. I love the way that you always come to my football games. Kagome, you, you are my shining star, the only thing in my day that allows me to differentiate from the dark of night and light of day. Kagome, I.....Kagome will you marry me?" the slight stutter of nervousness from her otherwise stoic boyfriend had overjoyed Kagome, tears running down her face in rivulets as the entire restaurant had stared at them. When her wavering 'yes' had echoed about the crowd had exploded into cheers, and Inuyasha had swept her up in his arms, pulling her close and kissing her passionately, making her pale blue eyes see literal stars.  
  
It had been wonderful.  
  
Her feet splashed through puddle angrily, water sloshing up onto her wet blue jeans and face, splashing her with car residues and other peoples garbage. Her feet protested painfully at the intrusion of many rocks and other sharp objects into her skin, but she didn't even register them as she realized that she was nearing the cemetery that held all her answers.  
  
"I love you Kagome."  
  
The words had echoed playfully in her ears as hand and hand, she and Inuyasha had walked back to the parking lot, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she gazed in to the fierce auburn eyes of her fiancé. It felt so strange to murmur that word with Inuyasha in the same sentence, but it just fit so well. He had opened her door for her, and helped her to get situated, then turning to get into the driver's seat. He stared at her with gleaming, passionate orbs of fire, leaning over her from his seat and kissing her vigorously, his lips moving from her own to her cheeks, gradually making his way across her cheeks and nose with feather light searing hot touches that sent flames of desire pounding throughout her body. "Kagome..." he murmured as he licked her skin, gently nipping her earlobe as her heart pounded against his chest like a drum. "Inuyasha...." she gasped, eyes almost seeing stars as he continued his trail of kisses down her neck, drowning in her scent as he nipped her lightly. He had just slid his hands down to rest on her waist, and had begun to pull her lightly towards his lap when a yell of indignation from another customer of "GET A ROOM!" echoed across the parking lot.  
  
Inuyasha had frozen mid-hickey and blushed a brilliant shade of red as he jumped back into his seat, hastily throwing his seatbelt on in a clumsy fashion. Kagome was breathless, and shocked. Her hand slid across the leather to interlace her fingers with his, and he had brought her hand up to kiss it gently. He was the perfect man, absolutely perfect.  
  
They had taken the back way home, trying to avoid the traffic that normally congregated in the center of the city during the wee party hours of the morning, and had reached a small suburban area where a large train depot was conveniently placed for morning commuting purposes. They had continued down the road towards a large set of railroad tracks, that were extremely busy at this time of year, but at twelve thirty at night, there shouldn't have been any trains on the road anyways. Shouldn't being the operative word.  
  
They had crossed the tracks at approximately twelve forty five, because she had looked at the clock through her new diamond to see how it changed the light into beautiful faceted shining dots that danced around the car. Inuyasha had laughed happily, a huge smile on his face as he stared lovingly into her own. He had slowed at the train tracks, cautiously looking both ways as he pulled through, when a loose tie on the tracks, unseen in the dark, jammed itself in between his axel and his wheels. The car had made a horrendous noise as they ran over the log, and Inuyasha had let loose a string of curse words she never even knew existed as he had stepped out to survey the damage with a soft "Kagome, you should stay in the car." in her general direction. It was getting chilly, and she had gladly agreed.  
  
They hadn't even seen the train coming until the last possible moment. Inuyasha had his head in the hood of his car, patiently pulling plugs and trying to figure out what to do with his car, when he had heard something that chilled his blood ice cold. The tracks, which shouldn't have had any trains running on this particular night were beginning to rattle, and he had screamed in horror as the passenger Amtrak had rounded the bend, headlights off, no whistles blowing to warn of its coming. She would never forget the blood curdling yell he had let out "KAGOME, TRAIN! GET OUT OF THE CAR, NOW!"  
  
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Her footsteps froze as panting in steaming breaths in the cold autumn air, she stared up at the eerie gates of the cemetery where the Goshinboku grew. They creaked ominously in the wind, wet fall leaves sticking to the darkened cobble stone pathways soaked with the now icy precipitation dripping from the sky in torrents. She pushed the gates slightly open and walked in, chill bumps leaping up her arms as she began her climb up the steep hill. The climb that would determine everything....  
  
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She had screamed in terror as the train loomed out of the distance like a prime evil monster, chugging forward at a breakneck pace of sixty miles an hour. She had tried to open the car door, but her heel was jammed in the side part of the seat. She worked furiously trying to get her shoes off, and Inuyasha had practically ripped the door handle off as he tried to forcefully yank her from the car. The train had come closer, the engineer obviously asleep at his post due to the lack of safety measures enacted as he approached. The roar of the tines creaking under the weight of the colossus creaking towards them made her scream even louder and cling to Inuyasha as he had tried to rip the very seat out of the car to get her out.  
  
"INUYASHA!" she had sobbed as he backed away, still trying to free her. "LEAVE! GO NOW!"  
  
"NEVER!" he roared, "I'll never leave you Kagome, NEVER!" he had worked feverishly as the train encroached upon there position, only twenty feet left to go. She had struggled wildly, screaming incoherent "I don't want to dies" into Inuyasha's now bruised shoulder. It was too late. The train roared up to the car, now fifteen feet, now ten. She tried to shove Inuyasha away as it seemed that the train came on in slow motion, all sound draining out of the situation as the black object had less that three feet to go before slamming in to the driver's side door. She came back to reality when Inuyasha had yelled something to her. "KAGOME!" she had glanced up, tears were dripping down his face as he leaned down close to her, crushing her lips in a sweet yet fiery kiss of passionate splendor. "I'll always love you" he whispered, "forever, and for always."  
  
She had slammed her lips into his again as the train impacted, the pain she screamed into his mouth lasting only moments before she felt like she was being torn away from everything, it was all dulling out, her ears could no longer hear. Where was Inuyasha? She felt like she was a little lost child, wandering around in some void of agony. It was dark and gray. She could vaguely hear the sound of sirens echoing in the background, and voices screaming for help as footsteps pounded by. She could feel her heart still trying to feebly pump the blood through her body, to veins that were lacerated in too many places to hold her blood. She could feel the agony that had been so dulled at first becoming excruciating as an obviously collapsed lung tried to do the work for two. She could feel herself dying....She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. They didn't even feel like they were there anymore.....  
  
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She was at the top of the hill, underneath the Goshinboku tree of legends. She reached up to touch it's soothing bark, glancing around for her one true answer. She almost began to hope again as she rounded the tree, until she saw the flowers. There were animals from her room strewn about the freshly upturned dirt she saw there. Inuyasha's favorite Kendo sword lying in a glass case atop his grave. Her picture carved into a beautiful angel with upturned wings and face, a tall soldier-like sentinel clasping hands with her as they stood side by side. She had to be sure......she had to be.  
  
She dropped to her knees, disregarding the mud that splattered as she shoved the presents and flowers away, her proof becoming visible in the very instant the granite plaque was seen protruding from the ground. "Kagome Higurashi...." she whispered, saying her name in a mechanical voice. "1986 to 2003" tears dripped down her face in torrents as she let out a sob that wrenched the very souls of the mortals who could no longer hear her cry. She screamed her anguish to the heavens, gently fingering the letters that made up her lover's name that had been gently inscribed into the stone beside her own. They were together in death......but separated. She could no longer see Inuyasha, she couldn't touch him, and his sweet and tender nothings would never be whispered in her ears again. She would never walk around the mall laughing with him as they carried on in the department stores, and sat on Santa's lap though they were much too big. She would never walk into school and see him lounging against the wall by the entrance to extend his arm to her and walk her to her class. She would never.....never........he couldn't come back.......her tears streamed down her face as she sobbed a despairing "WHY?! WHY ME DAMMIT?! What DID I DO THAT WAS SO WRONG?" to the heavens, the salty water dripping from her vicious blue orbs pooling in puddles at her feet.  
  
She collapsed into a fetal position, legs tucked all the way underneath her as she murmured incoherently to herself, eyes wide in horror. She was doomed. She would wander the earth forever, a useless and meaningless soul with no home. She closed her eyes, maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe she would wake up in her warm bed, to her mother's gentle call of "Kagome...." it sounded so real, as if someone was truly calling her. "Kagome..." it whispered again. Oh gods, could her wish come true? She lifted her head as the wind kissed voice once again slid sensuously past her with its laughing tone. She looked up quickly and sobbed in shock.  
  
There he was.  
  
Inuyasha, tall and beautiful, hair falling down his back in torrents, his gorgeous golden eyes beaming at her with love and adoration. "Hello koibito..." he whispered. "What took you so long?"  
  
*If you get there before I do....*  
  
He kneeled down beside her, hand reaching out to caress her muddy face.  
  
*Don't give up on me*  
  
"Kagome, did you think I would leave you alone?" he queried.  
  
*I'll meet you when my chores are through*  
  
She smiled, tears still falling from her eyes as she grasped his hands in a vicious grip, reaching her mud covered body up to slam into his white glowing one. "God I missed you Kagome..."  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha..." she laughed, her lips meeting his hungrily.  
  
*Though I don't know how long I'll be*  
  
"I waited so long for you Kagome....so long." he gasped into her hair as she pulled away from the kiss with swollen, cherry red lips.  
  
*But I'm not gonna let you down*  
  
"I'm here now." She whispered, her eyes now tearing with happiness as she sobbed into his shoulder.  
  
"I know love, I know. It's all I'll ever need."  
  
*Darlin' wait and see*  
  
He pulled her close to him, helping her stand on her wobbly and sore legs as they turned towards the Goshinboku, it's scarred surface had opened wide, brilliant white light streaming onto them.  
  
"It's time Kagome."  
  
*Because between now and then*  
  
He took her hand and led her towards the entrance to heaven, eyes shining brilliantly. She could vaguely make out the figure of her long dead father standing on a shining street of gold, his white billowing robes contrasting with the dark black hair he had passed on to her.  
  
*till I see you again*  
  
She paused as Inuyasha stepped inside, his hand still reaching out to her, fingers entwined with her own. She turned and looked around at the beautiful fall colors, a last tear running down her face as the clouds broke and the sun shone through the sky, illuminating the dark cemetery around her with the pink hues of a fall sunset. She sighed.  
  
*I'll be loving you*  
  
"Don't worry Kagome." Inuyasha whispered as he pulled her towards him, their lips meeting in a final brief kiss as their bodies faded into nothingness in the brilliant shine of the light. "Heaven is more beautiful than you could have ever imagined."  
  
*Love, me*  
  
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The End  
  
A/N: *Sniffle* It was my first song fic too, as you can see. I've never written one, though I've often thought about it. That's one of my favorite songs ever. It's beautiful, and it's so sad. It's about a grandpa and how he tells his grandson the story of how he met his grandma, who's dying in the hospital, and she wrote him this note, because they were going to run away to be married and she couldn't make it on time. The last note is written to him before she dies, and as she's going to heaven. Here's the verse all put together nice and neatly. I hope you all enjoyed my story, and I hope it had the emotion behind it that I wanted. Tell me what you think! Toodles - Lunar Kitty  
  
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through, though I don't know how long I'll be But I'm not gonna let you down Darlin' wait and see Because between now and then, till I see you again, I'll be loving you.  
  
Love, Me  
  
P.S. If you like DbnP, check out my other stories, 'Life after Death' and 'Beast'! Also, keep an eye out for my new story 'Pulling the Plug', which will be coming out soon!! 


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